Tuesday, September 29, 2009

This is the best way for me to give a nod to William Safire. Safire was a conservative columnist and speechwriter. He was also the writer of the On Language column in the New York Times.

I didn't agree with his political views. For me, he's an example of how someone can be skilled with one thing but not be skilled with something else.

His skills with the English language were incredible. I only hope to one day come close. I make mistakes more than I want to admit. It's really humbling to find something that I didn't proofread carefully and then have to change it.

To that end, RIP William Safire.

Here are his Rules for Writers:

Remember to never split an infinitive.

The passive voice should never be used.

Do not put statements in the negative form.

Verbs have to agree with their subjects.

Proof read carefully to see if you wordsout.

If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great dealof repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.

A writer mustnot shift your point of view.

And don't start a sentence with aconjunction.

(Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end asentence with.)

Don't overuse exclamation marks!!

Place pronouns asclose as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or morewords, to their antecedents.

Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, alinking verb is.

Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixingmetaphors.

Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone shouldbe careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

Always pick on the correct idiom.

The adverb always followsthe verb.

Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seekviable alternatives.

Subscribe Now

About Me

I'm an L.A. native who lived in the Land of the Morning Calm, South Korea, for a bit too long. I had a great time while I was there. I have a B.A. and law degree, but I earned a master's in international studies at Ewha Womans University. It was then I discovered that I love writing, thanks to this blog, and the things that grew out of writing it. For those who need to know where Korea is located. Korea is a peninsula that is split into two countries (North Korea and South Korea). It's located in NE Asia between Japan and Taiwan. It's below the eastern coast of China and Russia.
I moved back from NYC in 2011. It was exciting but definitely challenging. I "made" it in NYC and well, as the song says.
I'm back in the SF Bay area now. I'm now a Program Manager – Marketing Events at Salesforce on their Developer Community team.
Leave a comment to contact me. Remember you have to include your email for a reply. (I screen my comments, so I won't publish it to the world, don't worry.)